January, 2015

I was told (by my yoga teacher) this latest full moon was a “new moon…in Aquarius”. It means new beginnings and like the song said, “when the mooooon is in the 7th house, and jupiter aligns with mars, then peace will guide the planet and love will steer the stars, this is the dawning of the age of Aquarius”. Anyway, I’m an Aquarian and I always think that song is about me (I know, I’m so vain, from another 70’s hit).

It’s a new year, a new beginning, a new moon, a new pair of boots (slate gray suede, with a chunky heal) and a new decade as I enter my 50’s. Yes I said it, FIFTY. And I’m going to celebrate this new decade with grace, beauty, largesse and positivity (sprinkled here and there with a few days of peri-menpausal crankiness). Oh, and intense exercise because let’s face it the body is going south and not in a good way like south to a beach in Mexico, I mean like south to Antartica.

I still got it though, just yesterday I was walking over to Saks Fifth Avenue to look at things I can’t buy (and get looked down upon by snooty sales girls who also can’t buy anything) and who gave me a side-eye on the sidewalk for like 3.5 seconds? Elliot Spitzer, I swear to god. People I know it’s creepy but this soon-to-be-50yr-old will take a once-over where she can get it, in a NY minute.

With all that’s been going on in the US, in the world and to all the animals it can be hard to find the positive energy to celebrate New Year’s, you know? I guess Ken and I didn’t have that problem because we flew off to Rome with the “young adults”, Mae, Perry and Adri. We rang in the new year filled with Prosecco, bucatini, carciofo, perfect pizza, mozzarella, proscuitto, a martini at Harry’s (several), Ferrara’s in Trastevere, branzino, the best wine ever and the most art, history and architecture crammed into one small city ever. Touring the halls of the Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel, Roman Forum, the Baths of Caracalla, the Pantheon…oh, the Pantheon, it does make one look back, reflect on those times and how they relate to today. It’s a heady place in spite of all the tourists and men trying to sell you fake purses and roses.

I really did appreciate the time spent in my favorite city in the world. I needed time away from the noise of the news, the dolphins being slaughtered in Taiji, the elephants and Rhinos being poached towards extinction, Ferguson, ISIS, Ebola, domestic violence, AHHHHHHHHHH! I need another slice of that sausage and arugula pizza STAT! And you know what else?? It was sunny every day but very dry and cold and with that I had 5 straight days of good hair. That’s what I call a great vacation.